Honda CR-V gets small price cut to help flagging sales

The mid-range Honda CR-V VTi-S has today received a $1000 price cut, with the aim of stimulating sales in the “highly competitive” medium SUV segment.

The company’s move to cut the price of the Honda CR-V VTi-S two-wheel-drive to $32,290 plus on-road costs, and the VTi-S 4WD to $35,290, aligns it better to the top-selling Mazda CX-5 Maxx Sport ($32,790 and $35,790 in 2WD and 4WD guise respectively).

This spec level and price point is generally regarded as the ‘sweet spot’ of the compact SUV market. The cut should see more buyer interest in a car that is struggling a little this year.

Between January and May (June figures pending), CR-V sales fell 15.7 per cent to 3235 units, against an overall growth figure for the wider segment of 10.5 per cent.

As such, its market share has fallen from 8.7 per cent to 6.7 per cent, behind the CX-5 (20.6), Nissan X-Trail (15.4), Toyota RAV4 (15.3), Subaru Forester (9.1), Jeep Cherokee (7.3), Mitsubishi Outlander (7.1) and Kia Sportage (6.7, but with 12 more sales).

Much of this is likely due to Honda’s enemy from within, the hot-selling and supply-restricted new Honda HR-V baby SUV that swiftly became the brands top-seller in no time flat (3891 sales in just over three months).

Speaking with us last month, Honda Australia director Stephen Collins acknowledged to company wasn’t entirely happy with the CR-V’s performance this year so far, and said the company would look to address this by pushing more marketing funds in that car’s direction, allowing it to conquest from other brands rather than suffering at the hands of Honda cross-shoppers.

“It’s [HR-V] taken a little off CR-V, we did expect that,” Collins said. “I’m not sure we’re happy to be exact, that segment is still double-digit growth and this year we’re a bit down. So we’re not entirely happy with CR-V, so that will be a real focus in the second half for us.

“What’s important is to get on the shopping list, the closing ratio is pretty good. [We need] more marketing behind it… I think it’s reasonably top-of-mind but there’s a lot of good cars in there, a lot of new entrants… awareness is pretty good but getting to that final shopping list [is key].”

2015 Honda CR-V pricing (before on-road costs):
VTi 2WD manual $27,490
VTi 2WD auto $29,790
VTi 4WD auto $32,790
VTi-S 2WD auto $32,290
VTi-S 4WD auto $35,290
VTi-L 2WD auto $39,290
VTi-L 4WD auto $42,290
VTi-L ADAS 4WD auto $45,790

Read our Honda CR-V reviews here.